Legal Profession Commons^™

Amici Curiae Brief Of The Children And Youth Advocacy Clinic In Support Of Appellant. In Re The Dependency Of M.S.R. And T.S.R. V. Luak, No. 85729-6 (Wash. Sept. 16, 2011), Lisa Kelly

Court Briefs

Attorneys in Washington have the resources and established standards to effectively represent children and youth in termination of parental rights ("TPR") proceedings. Children who face TPR proceedings need the type of advice and advocacy that only trained lawyers can provide. While parents, social workers, foster parents, therapists, and guardians ad litem may provide substantial support to dependent children, only lawyers can protect their legal rights in complex adversarial proceedings, especially when all of the other parties are represented by counsel. In the context of a confidential relationship with a lawyer, a dependent child can provide critical information and meaningfully participate …

Surviving (And Thriving) In The First Year Of Trial Practice, Maureen A. Howard

Articles

The substance and procedure of trial practice may vary across different law firms and agencies, but there are certain challenges that all first-year trial lawyers face when starting out. No matter how brilliant and capable a newly minted attorney may be, there are some lessons more indelibly learned on the job than in law school; while these lessons are undoubtedly valuable, they can be painful and embarrassing. Although reading about the possible pitfalls of the first year of trial practice is not as educational as walking through the fire oneself, I have collected over the years a few tips and …

Meaningful Legal Representation For Children And Youth In Washington's Child Welfare System: Standards Of Practice, Voluntary Training, And Caseload Limits In Response To Hb 2735, Lisa Kelly

Books

Introduction, pages 1-2

Executive Summary, pages 3-4

Child Recommendation Practice Standards, pages 5-14

Voluntary Training Recommendations, page 15

Supporting Documentation

• Appendix A, HB 2735, Tab A
• Appendix B, Children's Representation Sub-Workgroup Membership List, Tab B
• Appendix C, American Bar Association Standards of Practice for Lawyers Who Represent Children in Abuse and Neglect Cases, Tab C

Playing Nice: The Dos And Don'ts Of Courtroom Etiquette, Maureen A. Howard

Articles

No matter how brilliant the lawyer, impressive her credentials, thorough her case preparation, or razor-sharp her analytic skills, she risks damaging her case — and her reputation — if she fails to comply with basic courtroom etiquette. There are certain dos and don’ts of courtroom behavior that are understood by seasoned trial lawyers and expected from judges. There are also common courtesies expected by jurors of lawyers who are viewed as professional and credible. A lawyer will undoubtedly learn these behavioral norms in the trenches over time, but she is well advised to have a courtroom etiquette checklist in her …

A Few Inconvenient Truths About Michael Crichton's State Of Fear: Lawyers, Causes And Science, Lea B. Vaughn

Articles

Although Crichton has lost the battle regarding global warming, his characterization of lawyers and law practice remains unchallenged. This article challenges his damning portrait of lawyers as know-nothing, self-aggrandizing manipulators of various social and environmental causes. A more nuanced examination of "cause lawyering" reveals that lawyers are not part of a vast conspiracy to grab power through the causes for which many work; in fact, the rules of professional responsibility as well as the structure of "cause lawyering" limit their power and influence. Regardless, lawyers are nonetheless vital, and generally principled, participants in the debates and causes that inform environmental …

Rise Of Political Populism And The Trouble With The Legal Profession In China, Dongsheng Zang

Articles

This essay looks into recent efforts by the ruling party in China to tighten control of the judiciary, the lawyers and prosecutors under the slogan of "harmonious society" in the last couple of years. This reversed the direction of judicial reform under the leadership of Xiao Yang, during his tenure as President of the Supreme People's Court before 2008. The trouble with the legal profession in China, the essay asserts, is not only that it loses its professional autonomy thus its ability to act as a sociopolitical force that is independent from the ruling political party; but also, by virtue …

To Mine Or Not To Mine: Recent Developments In The Legal Ethics Debate Regarding Metadata, Boris Reznikov

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The American Bar Association recently decided that attorneys are not violating the Model Rules of Professional Conduct by reviewing opposing parties’ electronic documents for metadata. The stance taken by the American Bar Association contradicts views from ethics committees in other jurisdictions that have determined that lawyers who examine metadata are acting unethically. This Article summarizes the American Bar Association’s decision, as well as the other opinions on metadata, to help practicing attorneys understand the proper ethical considerations they must make when determining whether to look into an electronic document’s metadata.

Client Confidentiality, Professional Privilege And Online Communication: Potential Implications Of The Barton Decision, Kelcey Nichols

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

In a recent case of first impression, Barton v. U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that an online communication involving an online intake form filled out by prospective clients gave rise to an attorney-client relationship governed by the duty of confidentiality and subject to attorney-client-privilege. The Ninth Circuit’s multi-factored analysis suggests a modified framework for evaluating when the duty of confidentiality and attorney-client relationship can be formed through online communications. This Article discusses Barton’s implications for attorneys and law firms that communicate with clients and …

Hiding Evidence From The Boss: Attorney-Client Privilege And Company Computers, Kelcey Nichols

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Recent court decisions in In re Asia Global Crossing, Ltd., People v. Jiang, and Curto v. Medical World Communications have held that attorney-client privilege can protect certain information located on an employer-issued computer from disclosure if the employee had a reasonable expectation of privacy. This Article provides a brief background on attorney-client privilege and explores the factors courts consider when determining whether an employee has this reasonable expectation. These factors include the scope of employer monitoring, the employer-employee agreement pertaining to the computer, the presence of password-protection, the location of the computer, and the relevancy of the evidence …

Legal Market Liberalization In South Korea: Preparations For Change, Hyung Tae Kim

Washington International Law Journal

South Korea’s World Trade Organization membership requires the “Land of the Morning Calm” to liberalize its legal market. South Korea submitted its proposal for liberalization in the spring of 2003 and planned to begin opening its legal market in 2005. However, disagreements between South Korea and other World Trade Organization members over the scope of liberalization have led to a one-year negotiation period extension, pushing back the planned market opening to early 2007. The Korean Bar Association has strongly opposed liberalization, claiming that liberalization will lead to the foreign domination of South Korea’s legal market. On the other hand, most …

Electronic Case Filing: Is Failure To Check Email Related To An Electronically Filed Case Malpractice?, Jessica Bekskis

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

This article explores electronic case filing and the duties of lawyers with regard to electronic filing. A recent federal district court case held that an attorney’s failure affirmatively to check the status of his case via email or the court’s PACER system, which resulted in dismissal of the case, did not constitute excusable neglect under Rule 60(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This holding imputes a professional duty on lawyers who use the electronic filing system to check email and the status of their case, suggesting that breaching of such duty may constitute malpractice.

"I Didn't Know My Client Wasn't Complying!" The Heightened Obligation Lawyers Have To Ensure Clients Follow Court Orders In Litigation Matters, Mafé Rajul

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Ensuring a client’s compliance with court orders and federal law is becoming a bigger responsibility for attorneys. This is because courts and Congress are starting to hold attorneys to higher standards with respect to their clients’ compliance with litigation duties and with federal law. This Article will address the duties Congress imposed on lawyers through the Sarbanes-Oxley Act with respect to up-the-ladder reporting and will parallel such standards with those set by the Southern District of New York court in Zubulake with respect to preserving electronic discovery in anticipation of litigation. Although the duties imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and …

E-Discovery—Can The Producing Party Expect Cost-Shifting?: The New Trend And What Can Be Done To Reduce Production Costs, Mafé Rajul

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Now that computers and the Internet have radically changed the way businesses create and transmit information, questions about discovery rules in litigation continue to arise, such as which party should pay for producing electronic discovery. The courts are now considering cost shifting when the cost of production is unduly burdensome on the producing party by applying a seven-factor test. However, cost shifting is not always considered or granted, which is why it is important to have electronic documents relevant to anticipated litigation accessible in order to minimize the cost of producing electronic discovery. This Article will examine how courts are …

Ethical Standards Of Japanese Lawyers: Translation Of The Ethics Codes For Six Categories Of Legal Service Providers, Kyoko Ishida

Washington International Law Journal

Today, Japanese attorneys and so-called "quasi-lawyers" (jun hōritsuka) face significant regulatory reforms to the legal services they provide. The justice system reform (shihō seido kaikaku) significantly expanded the scope of practice for quasi-lawyers in order to meet the country's growing need for legal assistance. Also, in November 2004 attorneys established new ethical standards which also apply to registered foreign business attorneys for the preparation of upcoming increase of population of attorneys. In contrast to the United States, where attorneys provide legal services almost exclusively, there are several licensed legal service providers other than attorneys (bengoshi …

Can Law Firms Spam?, Kevin Michael

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 presents a compliance problem for law firms that issue periodic newsletters to clients or prospective clients. While the Act does not expressly include such newsletters, nor define commercial advertisement in a manner that suggests newsletters will be included, the advisory opinions from state ethics boards suggest that newsletters are advertisements. Arguments can be made that newsletters to current clients are not advertisements. However, given the low cost of compliance with the Act, firms should treat these newsletters as commercial advertisements and adhere to the provisions of the Act.

Balancing Consumer Interests In A Digital Age: A New Approach To Regulating The Unauthorized Practice Of Law, Cristina L. Underwood

Washington Law Review

States have traditionally relied on unauthorized practice of law statutes and court rules to restrict nonlawyers from providing legal services. A majority of courts assess compliance with these statutes by applying set practice of law definitions and restrictive court precedent to nonlawyer activity. These methods of enforcement have failed to balance consumer protection concerns with the public's need for access to affordable legal services. Most state practice of law definitions have proven inflexible, broadly barring the practice of law by nonlawyers, with few exceptions. Courts interpreting unauthorized practice statutes have created bright-line rules that favor consumer protection, failing to incorporate …

China's New Foreign Law Firm Regulations: A Step In The Wrong Direction, Jane J. Heller

Washington International Law Journal

Following China's accession to the World Trade Organization ("WTO"), the Chinese government issued new regulations governing foreign law firms in China. A number of commentators have analyzed these regulations to evaluate whether China is "'on track" to fulfilling the commitments it undertook to gain entry to the WTO. However, a more basic question that should be addressed is whether the new regulations meet China's goals in joining the WTO: to foster trade and economic development and to accelerate the growth of China's legal profession. Although China appeared willing to engage in significant liberalization of the legal services sector when it …

Managing Your Library, Jonathan A. Franklin

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Managing Your Library
• Hiring a Librarian
• Selecting Materials
• Managing Your Library: A Selected Bibliography
• Library Support Services in King County
• Document Delivery Services
• Legal Publishers and Distributors: A Selected List of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho Legal Publishers
• Publishers of Current Washington Legal Periodicals

Judicial Reform And The State Of Japan's Attorney System: A Discussion Of Attorney Reform Issues And The Future Of The Judiciary, Part Ii, Kohei Nakabō, Yohei Suda

Washington International Law Journal

Based on the Judicial Reform Council's article, "Points at Issue in Judicial Reform," this paper analyzes basic issues regarding the current status of the Japanese attorney system and areas to be addressed in judicial reform. [This Article formed the basis of Mr. Nakabō's report at the thirteenth meeting of the Judicial Reform Council on February 22, 2000. It was originally published as the second part of a two part paper in SERIES JUDICIAL REFORM I: [LEGAL PROFESSIONAL TRAINING: THE LAW SCHOOL CONCEPT] (2000). The first part of the paper was translated in Kohei Nakabō, Judicial Reform and the State of …

Judicial Reform And The State Of Japan's Attorney System: A Discussion Of Attorney Reform Issues And The Future Of The Judiciary, Kohei Nakabō, Yohei Suda

Washington International Law Journal

Based on the Judicial Reform Council's article "Points at Issue in Judicial Reform," this paper presents basic issues on the current status of the Japanese attorney system and areas to be addressed in judicial reform. [[Translator's Note] This Article formed the basis of Nakabō's report at the twelfth meeting of Judicial Reform Council held on February 8, 2000. It was originally published as the first of a two part paper in SERIES JUDICIAL REFORM I: [LEGAL PROFESSIONAL TRAINING; THE LAW SCHOOL CONCEPT] (2000).]

Japan's New Patent Attorney Law Breaches Barrier Between The "Legal" And "Quasi-Legal" Professions: Integrity Of Japanese Patent Practice At Risk?, Lee Rousso

Washington International Law Journal

In order to increase the quantity of intellectual property related legal services made available to the public, the Japanese Diet enacted a complete revision of Japan's eighty-year-old Patent Attorney Law. Under the terms of the new law, which became effective on January 6, 2001, benrishi (patent attorneys) have authority to greatly expand their range of professional activities. The newly recognized activities encroach upon the statutory monopoly long enjoyed by Japan's bengoshi (attorneys). Furthermore, the new legislation gives the benrishi a professional domain that is inconsistent with the profession's credential requirements. This Comment argues that the revision is likely to have …

Lawyer Communications On The Internet: Beginning The Millennium With Disparate Standards, Louise L. Hill

Washington Law Review

Lawyer communications on the Internet constituting commercial speech are subject to state ethics rules governing lawyer advertising and communication. Because each state operates as a separate entity with its own rules that govern the lawyers of its jurisdiction, the profession is faced with disparate standards on a jurisdictional basis. Of the forty-three states that have adopted the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, four-fifths have standards on lawyer communications that vary from those in the Model Rules. Not only is there variation in the rules themselves, but differences exist in the specific applicability and interpretation of these rules to components of …

Why Lawyers Have Often Worn Strange Clothes, Claimed To Work For Free--And Been Hated, Hugh D. Spitzer

Articles

Why have lawyers and judges always adorned themselves in ancient regalia? Obviously, they must symbolically transform themselves from private individuals into "law speakers" for the community. They become tools of a longstanding legal system, and special clothes offer clues to others (and reminders to themselves) that they have special responsibilities, both to their clients and to the community at large. The "retro" clothes that lawyers and judges wear also remind everyone that law is old that it isn't meant to change rapidly, and that it offers stability and predictability in a changing world.

Interest Or Principles?: The Legal Challenge To Iolta In Washington State, Jay Carlson

Washington Law Review

Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA) programs exist in all fifty states and raise significant funding for legal services for the poor. A recent series of federal court lawsuits seeks to eliminate IOLTA programs on the grounds that they violate the Fifth and First Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Washington Legal Foundation v. Legal Foundation of Washington, currently on appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, is one such lawsuit challenging Washington State's IOLTA program. In Phillips v. Washington Legal Foundation, a similar case from Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that funds raised …

Coming Of Age: Recognizing The Importance Of Interdisciplinary Education In Law Practice, Janet Weinstein

Washington Law Review

This Article proposes that lawyers need to be creative problem solvers if they are truly to serve the needs of their clients. The ability to collaborate with professionals from other disciplines is an important aspect of creative problem solving. The Article examines the skills required for creative problem solving and law students' and attorneys' facility with these skills.The Article further discusses the barriers to providing interdisciplinary training in law schools and suggests ways to incorporate such training.

A Proposed Conflict Of Interest Rule For Attorney-Mediators, Michelle D. Gaines

Washington Law Review

Maintaining the success and fairness of mediation requires mediators to be impartial toward all parties and to protect the confidentiality of mediation sessions. Attorney-mediators encounter conflicts of interest, based on prior or subsequent representation of clients, that can disrupt impartiality or confidentiality. When attorneys practice mediation, it is unclear where they should look for guidance: attorney rules of professional conduct, mediator ethical standards, or both. Additionally, attorney-mediators encounter unique issues that ethical guidelines designed for attorneys or mediators do not address adequately. This Comment proposes a comprehensive conflict of interest rule for inclusion in the Rules of Professional Conduct that …

Exclusivity And The Japanese Bar: Ethics Or Self-Interest?, David Hood

Washington International Law Journal

The Japanese bar maintains that ethical considerations mandate a low admission rate. However, the bar's limit on the number of lawyers in Japan has socioeconomic effects that extend beyond the legal profession. Also, because there are too few Japanese lawyers, "quasi-lawyer" legal substitutes have emerged to satisfy pent-up demand for legal services. This comment suggests that the Japanese bar should expand its membership in order to address the shortage of legal services in Japan. An expanded bar could also address many of Japan's hidden socioeconomic ills.

Attorney-Client Privilege Versus The Pto's Duty Of Candor: Resolving The Clash In Simultaneous Patent Representations, Todd M. Becker

Washington Law Review

Patent attorneys play dual roles: they are simultaneously attorneys and patent practitioners. Their dual role causes problems when the rules that govern one role conflict with the rules that govern the other. One such problem is illustrated in Molins PLC v. Textron, Inc., where a patent attorney simultaneously representing two clients was caught between the Patent & Trademark Office's duty of candor and the attorney's duty of confidentiality imposed by the rules of professional responsibility. The Molins decision presents a problem because it creates uncertainty about whether confidentiality can be maintained by using the attorney-client privilege to defeat the …

Taxing Contingency Fee Attorneys As Investors: Recognizing The Modern Reality, Robert M. Amkraut

Washington Law Review

In the 1995 case of Boccardo v. Commissioner, the Ninth Circuit changed the tax treatment of advances made by attorneys working on contingency fee arrangements. The court held that, in a specific type of contingency fee arrangement, costs paid by an attorney are deductible as ordinary and necessary business expenses. This decision not only challenges assumptions underlying decades of case law and centuries of legal ethical tradition, but it also undermines the tax accounting principle of matching expenses with related income. This Note summarizes the traditional rationales for prohibiting attorneys from deducting such costs and analyzes the Boccardo decision. …

Managing Your Library: With Or Without A Librarian, Peggy Roebuck Jarrett

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Managing Your Library: With or Without a Librarian
• Hiring a Librarian
• Managing Your Library: A Selected Bibliography
• Selection of Materials
• Library Support Services in King County
• Document Delivery Services
• Legal Publishers and Distributors: A Selected List
• Publishers of Washington Legal Periodicals